Governor: Simplistic narrative, questionable historical accuracy, underwhelming production quality, notes Sukanya Verma.
Key Points
- Chinmay D Mandlekar’s Governor attempts to portray India’s 1990-1991 financial crisis through the story of a single man’s acumen.
- Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, known for his propagandist franchise like The Kerala Story, awkwardly attempts to push its agenda by completely undermining Dr Manmohan Singh’s role in bailing out India from the crisis.
- Ever a solid actor, Manoj Bajpayee appears out of sorts spouting an unconvincing Tamil accent and posturing as a senior dignitary in a body language that’s more A K Hangal than his own.
There was a time when India’s coffers were nearly empty. Impacted by the Gulf War, the Soviet Bloc collapse and a climate of political instability incensed by shaky coalition governments on the home front, reserves were drained out and revenue depleted, leaving India on the brink of bankruptcy if it didn’t get its act together. And soon.
Told by an aunt to his nephew like a fairy tale in flashback, Chinmay D Mandlekar’s Governor unfolds sans any real context, without ever explaining its purpose or underlining meaning.
Despite its contemporary resonance, the film insists the country is a lot more flourishing now than it was back in the early 1990s.
A Simplified Historical Account
Set against the backdrop of India’s financial troubles in 1990-1991, Manoj Bajpayee in and as Governor shows how a single man’s acumen for finding bold solutions while everybody else moped about consequences rescued the nation from dire straits.
Producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah, known for his propagandist franchise like The Kerala Story, awkwardly attempts to push its agenda by completely undermining Dr Manmohan Singh’s role in bailing out India from the crisis.
The former RBI governor, finance minister and prime minister pops up every now and then like a nondescript figure whose muted presence has nothing to add, and everything to benefit.
Dodgy politics is the least of Governor’s problems, which takes its cash crunch subject a tad too close to heart.
An already dry premise is made duller across tacky production values, lifeless sets and phony VFX-generated visuals, most jarring of which is the Mumbai skyline plastered outside a bureaucrat’s office window.
Modelled on real-life Reserve Bank of India governor S Venkitaramanan whose stint lasted from 1990 to 1992, wherein he demonstrated his flair in financial matters at a particularly challenging time marked by rising inflation and depreciated currency, Governor revisits the chapter when India pledged its gold for foreign exchange.
Missed Opportunities in Storytelling
It could not have been an easy decision to make given the diplomatic complexities, tricky logistics and looming criticism but director Mandlekar’s flimsy writing fails to bring out the historic undertone in its trials and triumph.
Instead Bajpayee’s Raman must contend with colleagues showing no faith in his ability, an administration that turns down all his requests as if his pursuits are for personal gain even as he singularly identifies a national urgency to which all other public servants are oblivious. The amusing tone of his desperate actions and dramatic pleas trivialise the seriousness of the situation.
Acting and Character Portrayals
Ever a solid actor, Bajpayee appears out of sorts spouting an unconvincing Tamil accent and posturing as a senior dignitary in a body language that’s more A K Hangal than his own.
You’ll find more authenticity in his onscreen wife Madhoo’s superstitious rituals and the disagreeing tone of his subordinate, played by Noushad Mohamed Kunju.
Adah Sharma’s snoopy journalist pitches in as the voice of dissent as the sole member of the media to give a damn about tons of gold snuck out of the country. Except her portrayal is more angry than curious to make any difference.
As is the Governor.
An oversimple take on India’s monetary muddle reduces a chapter into a page.
